The manufacturers of the country鈥檚 plastic toys are eyeing more exports alongside meeting local demand, amid a gradual growth of export earnings from the sector.
The manufacturers, who participated in and demonstrated their products at Toy Expo 2025, also said that Bangladesh currently exported toys to 88 countries worldwide.
Moreover, once an import-dependent sector, Bangladeshi manufacturers could meet about 80 per cent of the local demand for plastic toys, while the country depended on imports for the remaining 20 per cent.
Moreover, in the 2023-24 financial year, the country earned about $36 million from exports, along with a cumulative average growth of 24 per cent, which meant plastic toys could earn approximately $466.31 million by 2030.
Forty local manufacturers exhibited products at the two-day Toy Expo 2025, which began in the capital on Thursday. It was organised jointly by the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Ministry of Commerce and the government鈥檚 Export Competitiveness for Jobs (EC4J) Project.
ACI Premio Plastics, a concern of ACI Group, have exported plastic toys worth $1.2 million to India, Nepal, Bhutan and Saudi Arabia.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Kallan Biswas, the company鈥檚 senior manager (export), said that they were eying exports to first-world countries, especially the US and EU.
鈥楤eyond export, we also sell plastic toys worth Tk 30 crore monthly at our local market and employ over 500 people,鈥� he added.
He also said that the plastic toys and the overall plastic industry were transforming from import dependency to domestic production.
Akij Plastic, another prominent player in plastic toys manufacturing, exported about $4.3 million worth of plastic and plastic toys annually to its global destinations.
The company, which is a part of Akij Group, exported its products to India, the US, Canada, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and some Middle Eastern countries.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Aminul Islam, the company鈥檚 manager (international business development), said that they were getting good responses from buyers at the expo.
鈥榃e exhibit products here to establish a communication with both domestic and foreign buyers and we are getting good response,鈥� he added.
He said that they hoped the government would take a proper decision regarding the recent Indian decision to halt imports of Bangladeshi goods through land ports.
At the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, Shamim Ahmed, president of the BPGMEA, said they were rewriting the narratives of Bangladesh鈥檚 plastic industries.
He said that the plastic sector was no longer a cottage industry as they were building an ecosystem, from resin production to advanced moulding, geared for global markets.
He also said the local toy market was worth about Tk聽7,000 crore.
In the plastic toy sector, among 152 factories, 147 Bangladeshi manufacturers invested about Tk聽4,500 crore in their factories, primarily situated in Keraniganj, Kamrangirchar, various regions of Old Dhaka, Gazipur and some export processing zones and economic zones.
The plastic toy sector employs about 20,000 people and can produce 1,000 plastic toys priced from Tk聽20 to Tk 5,000.
Shamim Ahmed also said that, based on this growth, toy exports were estimated to reach approximately $466.31 million by 2030. If this trend continues, Bangladesh could become the 28th largest toy exporting country by 2030, he said.
He also requested Bangladesh embassies in different countries to promote plastic toy exports, including all plastic products.
He requested foreign friends from the embassy in Dhaka, different agencies and buying houses, who were present, to help the Bangladesh plastic industry鈥檚 exports grow and reach their markets.
